Pre-trip Stage Research Articles

Investigating the Spatial-Temporal Variation of Pre-Trip Searching in an Urban Agglomeration

Search engines have been the primary tool for online information search before traveling. Timely detection and the control of peak tourist flows in scenic areas prevent safety hazards and the overconsumption of tourism resources due to excessive tourist clustering. This study focuses on the spatial-temporal interactions between the pre-trip stage and the after-arrival stage to investigate online information search behavior. Big data obtained from mobile roaming and search engines provide precise data on daytime and city scales, which enabled this paper to examine the relationship between daily tourist arrivals and their pre-trip searching from 40 cities within the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. This study had several original results. First, tourists generally search for tourist information 2–8 days before arriving at destinations, while tourist volume and SVI from source cities show distance attenuation. Second, SVI is a precursor to changes in tourist volume. The precursory time rises with the increase of traffic time spatially. Third, we validated a VAR model and improved its accuracy by constructing it based on the spatial-temporal differentiation of search features. These findings would enhance the management and preservation of tourism resources and promote the sustainable development of tourism destinations.

Conceptualizing Tourist Journey: Qualitative Analysis of Tourist Experiences on TripAdvisor

ABSTRACT This study aims to conceptualize tourist journey through analyzing tourist experiences. In this study, the connotation and important criteria of the Eiffel Tower visitor travel experiences were identified using a qualitative approach. The statistical population of this study includes the visitors who posted online reviews on TripAdvisor. The data was extracted using the python program script. Data analysis was performed using the content analysis method with the help of the Maxqda software. The results show that considering structural and scenic attractions, person- environment fit and supplementary need factors in the Pre-trip stage; environmental, social, and service space factors in the entrance stage; Value for money and payment methods factors in the payment stage can affect tourist experiences and their behavioral intentions. This study is a pioneer work to qualitatively create a model for the concept of the tourist journey by examining the experience of tourists. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Metaverse tourism: conceptual framework and research propositions

ABSTRACT Although research on the category of metaverse attributes has expanded, the notion of metaverse tourism has yet to be identified in the tourism context. This research note suggests four propositions of metaverse tourism. First, the core technologies of metaverse tourism will lead to a new level of immersive experiences. Second, metaverse tourists can develop more realistic expectations in the pre-trip stage. Third, researchers should consider metaverse tourist’s multi-identification profiles. Lastly, metaverse tourism offers the new business model of a creative economy. As such, the research note suggests that tourism researchers begin to understand the metaverse tourism ecosystem and investigate the metaverse tourism experience of the pre-, during-, and post-travel stages to create precise research ideas.

Social media communication and destination brand equity

社交媒体传播和目的地品牌资产研究目的本文旨在进一步了解目的地和旅游社交媒体传播对目的地品牌资产的影响。研究设计/方法/途径本论文使用在线调查和结构方程模型对 433 名国际游客和社交媒体用户进行了定量研究。研究结果结果表明, 用户生成的内容（UGC）和目的地生成的内容（DGC）都通过目的地品牌资产的中介作用对游客行为产生积极影响。两者中, UGC对于建立积极的目的地形象更为重要, 对于提高感知的目的地质量和价值更有价值。结果还表明, 情感形象是旅游行为的有力预测因素。实际意义研究结果为目的地管理组织 (DMO) 和社交媒体营销策略提供了有用的见解。 DMO 需要生成具有高度相关性和唤起情感的内容, 并鼓励游客分享自己的经验, 以提高目的地品牌资产和未来行为。原创性/价值该研究是在做出旅行决定之前的被动旅行前阶段进行的, 它提供了关于社交媒体传播如何影响：(i) 目的地品牌资产, 以及 (ii) 用户的选择决定某些目的地优于其他目的地的独特见解。

Multisensory prosumption: how cooking classes shape perceptions of destinations

PurposeThis study aims to examine the multisensory experiences of participating in a cooking class and how they shape perceptions of destinations in the pre-trip stage. Performance theory and prosumption provide a theoretical lens to investigate how a cooking class influences the pre-trip destination sensescape.Design/methodology/approachThis study used participatory action research consisting of an immersive Tatarstan cooking class experience with the supporting materials of music and videos, focus group discussions and participant observations.FindingsCooking class participants prosume local culture and (re)construct the perceptions of Tatarstan by partaking in cooking classes through a multisensory experience. The pre-trip destination sensescape formation in the cooking class is dynamic, stimulating and memorable. With active engagement in co-creating in the process, such experience significantly strengthens and reshapes the perceptions of a destination.Practical implicationsCooking classes can be leveraged in pre-trip marketing as a tool to enhance the competitiveness of tourism destinations and contribute to accessible tourism, such as engaging visually impaired tourists’ other heightened senses in experience design and marketing.Originality/valueThis study revealed that participation in cooking classes involves active, embodied and multisensory engagement, which acts as a vehicle of the destination perception change.

관광객 자전적 기억에서 나타나는 관광경험 구조의 이해

The purpose of this study was to identify the common and connotation structure of the autobiographical memory formed by tourism experience. Based on Colaizzi’s phenomenological method, the contents of common autobiographical memories in the retrospective of tourism experience was summarized in an intensive structure. Specifically, the autobiographical memory in the pre-trip stage was structured into three categories('Travel planning', 'Self-directed planning', and 'Expectation and anxiety'). The on-site stage was structured into a single category(‘Unusual experiences’). Lastly, the post-trip stage’s autobiographical memory was structured into three categories(‘Discovering new meanings’, ‘Positively distorted emotions’, and ‘Savoring memories’). The tourism experience shown in autobiographical memory is derived from experiences that have given subjective meanings according to cognitive and affective self-consciousness. It may include past experience or unconsciously, automatically, or reflexively by certain external conditions or stimulation. In particular, prior knowledge and external stimulation accumulated from past experience acted as crucial influence factors of tourist behavior and decision-making, and the process of such selection was also a part of the autobiographical memory. It was also identified that the autobiographical memory could be reconstructed and distorted by various factors. Our findings may help researchers and practitioners understanding the decision-making mechanism in tourist autobiographical memory, and devise various theoretical and practical strategies for evoking and promoting memory.

An existential psychological perspective on Chinese career gap travel

This study examined travellers’ reflections of meaning in career gap travel experiences, through an existential psychology lens. Specifically, it investigated how career gap travellers conferred and fundamentally shifted meaning in their lives. Eleven career gap travellers’ reflections were interpreted through existential-narrative analysis. The study contributed to current knowledge by developing a career gap travel cycle including stages before, during and after the trip. The findings showed that career crises and existential anxiety for something more meaningful were the antecedents of career gap travel in the pre-trip stage. The trip itself comprised two stages: the early days of travel were depicted as pleasurable; however, long-term travel also involved existential challenges, such as anxiety and fear. The post-trip stage involved post-trip liminality and travel syndrome related to fear of failure and anxiety. The article concludes with a discussion of future research areas for career gap travel.

From dreaming to believing: a review of consumer engagement behaviours with brands’ social media content across the holiday travel process

ABSTRACTThis paper reviews social media user engagement behaviours with brands and proposes a new stage within the travel process. Specifically, the pre-trip stage is examined and investigation into a two sub-stage split is proposed; pre-purchase and post-purchase. Dubbed the Believing phase, this paper calls for research into the patterns of engagement behaviour towards hotel brands’ content at this currently under-researched stage. Current social media-focussed research examines influence on purchasing decisions of users, social media usage on-site, and post-trip evaluation. There remains a conceptual gap highlighting the behavioural patterns of users during the period between initial purchase and subsequent departure.

Fabbisogni e scelte linguistiche nella comunicazione turistica in Italia, con particolare riferimento alla lingua tedesca

Abstract The paper reflects on the linguistic needs in the field of tourism communication in Italy starting from data on the main tourist markets of origin in Italy. After an overview on language choice in the pre-trip stage on national and regional level, it outlines a research project on language contact between German speaking tourists and hosts in Piedmont aiming at enhancing the quality of communication with German as a foreign language for tourism.

Visiting heritage museums with children: Chinese parents’ motivations

ABSTRACTMuseums have been widely considered as informal educational sites. Studies about families in museums heavily concentrate on the cognitive aspects and the learning outcomes in science museums and art galleries. Compared with previous research, this study emphasizes four distinctive themes: a focus on the pre-trip stage of the museum visit, museums depicting local heritage, a Chinese context, and attention to social and cultural issues. In detail, this study explores the motivations of Chinese parents who take their children to a cluster of heritage museums at the southern end of China’s Grand Canal, a newly designated world heritage site in Hangzhou. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with parents visiting the museums with their children. It was found that the key push factors include education and learning, relaxation, creating positive experience for children, relationship enhancement (quality time with children) and extended family obligations. Free admission, the innovative displays, the opportunities for personal interaction and the quality of the environment both within and surrounding the museums were important pull factors. The family market, particularly the extended family, may be particularly important in China given their importance in Chinese culture based on Confucian teaching.

Understanding drivers’ perspective on parking guidance information

Parking guidance and information (PGI) systems are thought to enable a more efficient control and management of the traffic and the use of the available car park in urban areas. Despite the installation of PGI systems in many cities and their operation for a number of years, the levels of usage of PGI remain much lower than expected. To guide investment and operational decisions, this study examines the existing PGI systems from the drivers' perspective. The results show that PGI is not efficiently used and often ignored by drivers because of the inaccurate or out-of-date nature of the information it is displaying. Habitual behaviour also played an important role in the choices of a car park. However, the results of the research also show that there is a desire for more accurate, dynamic and personalised parking information through different means at pre-trip stage and en-route stage. The results of this survey should provide some guidance in the design of future PGI systems.

Relationships between Travel Information Search and Travel Product Purchase in Pretrip Contexts

This study adds to understanding the relationships between travel information search and product purchase behaviors by examining online and offline information search and purchase behaviors. A conceptual model of travel planning was developed from case-based vacation planning theory. Results indicated travel information search and product purchase commitments in the pretrip stage are different, travel information search and product purchase vary by travel product categories in the pretrip stage, and travel experiences influence travel information search and product purchase for certain travel products in the pretrip stage. This study suggests that travel-planning theory is strong in explaining complex travel behaviors.

The desired quality of integrated multimodal travel information in public transport: Customer needs for time and effort savings

Travel information is one of the factors that contribute to the quality of public transport. In particular, integrated multimodal travel information (IMTI) is expected to affect customers’ modal choice. The objective of this research is to identify customers’ desired quality of IMTI provision in public transport. Customers’ desired IMTI quality can vary throughout the pre-trip, wayside and on-board stages of a journey. The main determinants are time savings (travel and search time) and effort savings (physical, cognitive, and affective effort). In a sample of Dutch travellers with a substantial share of young persons, the pre-trip stage turns out to be the favourite stage to collect IMTI when planning multimodal travel; desired IMTI types in this stage are used to plan the part of the journey that is made by public transport. Wayside IMTI is most desired when it helps the traveller to catch the right vehicle en route. On-board travellers are most concerned about timely arrival at interchanges in order to catch connecting modes. In the whole travel process, travel time is the most important saving. Apart from that, pre-trip search time savings are also desired, while en route affective effort is more important than cognitive effort.

Modeling Revealed and Stated Pretrip Travel Response to Advanced Traveler Information Systems

Advanced traveler information systems (ATISs) offer benefits to travelers and may improve transportation system performance in congested areas. An understanding of how information affects travelers' decisions can help in evaluating benefits and designing demand management strategies. The objective of the present study was to explore how people deal with unexpected congestion during the pretrip stage and how they might respond to ATISs. Travelers' routes, departure times, and mode selection decisions were investigated through a survey of Bay Area automobile commuters. The effects of various factors such as sources of congestion information (radio traffic reports versus observation), trip characteristics, and route attributes on travelers' responses to unexpected congestion were examined. The pretrip response to future ATIS technologies was explored through stated preferences (hypothetical scenarios). A combined reported preference and stated preference model of traveler response was developed by using the multinomial logit formulation. The estimations indicate that travel time and information are important determinants of changes in travel decisions in response to unexpected delays. The model indicates a strong relationship between reported and stated preferences. The results indicate that ATISs overcome behavioral inertia and that individuals are more likely to change their travel patterns in response to prescriptive information. More specific findings and their implications for ATIS design are also discussed.